Preps Plus.

Evanston 29, Larkin 28

Wildkits Rally Past Royals In Thriller

Vince Webber flung his shoulder pads in disgust, then knelt and bowed his head.

The powerfully built 5-foot-10-inch, 185-pound junior was hurting inside, but Webber was too proud and defiant to break down like some of his Larkin teammates.

He just kept kept repeating the same refrain: "Next year, we are going to win a state championship."

Lofty expectations come naturally to outstanding players, and so Webber figured the Class 6A football playoff opener at Evanston was merely the beginning of the postseason journey that would end on Thanksgiving weekend at Illinois State.

That he piled up 310 yards on 26 carries and scored on runs of 20, 80 and 30 yards, yet came away a 29-28 loser in perhaps the most exciting opener in the Chicago area was unacceptable to him. Evanston (8-2) will play New Trier (10-0) in next week's second-round game. Webber finished his season with 2,046 yards and 32 touchdowns.

This showdown of star junior running backs actually exceeded the hype. Evanston's Siaka Massaquoi rushed for 205 yards on 31 carries, scored two touchdowns, and most important, ran for a two-point conversion with 33 seconds left in the game.

Massaquoi's 40-yard run helped set up quarterback Tom Leineweber's 9-yard TD pass to Randall Mercer that brought the Wildkits within 28-27.

The Evanston scoring drive came in response to Webber's third TD run at 4:12.

"If anyone doesn't think Larkin played like a champion out there, I'd call you a stone-cold liar," said Evanston coach John Riehle. "Their linemen were so big and Vince Webber was simply a man out there--we had to go for two points."

Riehle had pulled Massaquoi aside during a preceding timeout, and asked him, "If we go for two points, are you going to put it in?"

"Yes," Massaquoi said.

Massaquoi ran a sweep to his left and raced past two Larkin defenders to the corner of the end zone. When asked by how much he had made it, Massaquoi held his thumb and index finger 3 inches apart.

"When I face a great back like Webber, I feel when he does one thing, I have to do as well or better," Massaquoi said. "I put a lot on my shoulders."

His load was somewhat lighter than that of Webber, who scored on successive possessions in the second quarter to give the Royals a 14-0 lead. His 80-yard run featured an eye-opening, midstride juke that froze two Evanston defenders. Massaquoi's 19-yard TD run just before halftime left the Wildkits down by seven.

Evanston tied it with 2:38 left in the third quarter on a 21-yard TD pass from Leineweber to Tripp Healy. Both teams scored on their next two possessions with Larkin QB Joel Castillo (11 of 16, 107 yards, one TD) hitting Justin Beyer with a 6-yard scoring pass while Massaquoi and Webber matched TD runs. Larkin drove to the Evanston 27 in those final 33 seconds, but Matt Allison's 44-yard field goal attempt wasn't close.